Lawn mower



J.' w. PETERS LAWN MOWER Filed March 2. 1921 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 Oct. 2 1923. 1,469,603

J. w. PETERS LAWN MOWER Filed March 2. 1921 2 Sheets-Sheet? woentoz Patent Q'ct. 2, 1923..

JOHN W. PETERS, F ROSLYN, NEW YQRK.

LAWN mowEn.

Application med March 2, 1921. Serial No. 449,258.

To all whom t nw/y concern:

Be it known that I, JOHN W. PETERS, a citizen of the United States, residin at Roslyn, in the county of Nassau and tate of New York, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Lawn Mowers,

of which the following is a disclosure.

, My invention relates to lawn mowers and has for its object the produc-tion of a self.

propelled lawn mower so simple andinexl pensive and so free from upkeep costs that it may be generally use'd in place of the The cable is secured at its other end to a self-winding spring reel mounted and swiveled on the mower and which operates to automatically give out and take up the cable as the mower travels on the lawn. In actually constructing devices of this kind I have found a. one third horse power motor suiiicient to propel and drive the cutter of a twenty-one inch mower,'while a reel adapted to accommodate seventy-five feet of cord or cable enables a large area to be out with one attachment. I have found that with this length of cord the tension on the reel may be made such as to keep the cord free ofthe ground without imposing undue strains on the mower'.

With these preliminary explanations, my invention will readily be understood from a description of the constructions embodying my invention illustrated in the drawings accompanying and forming a. part of this specification. In these drawings Fig. 1 is a side elevation of the preferred embodiment of my invention. Fig. 2 is a plan View of the structure Shown in Fig. 1. Fig. 3 is a detail view showing the gearing connecting rotatable cutter to driving rolle-r. Fig. 4 is a section View of the reel. Fig. 5 is a detaill view of sliding contact forming a part of the reel. Fig. 6 is a wiring diagram. Fig. 7 is a side elevation of a modied construction. Fig. 8 is a detail view showing means for automatically turn- 4ing off the current when the cable reaches its vend on the reel. F1 9 is a detail view showing the gearing 0I the motor to the rotatable cutter or knife.

Referring in detail to the vmachine illustrated in Figs. 1 to 6, the mower comprises wheels or rollers, 1, a cutter 2, a cutter bar 3, and a rear roller 4, all arranged substantially as in common' forms of hand mowers except that the handle is secured rigidly tol the frame of the mower land the Weight is so balanced on the front and rear rollers or wheels that the front rollers, which operate to propel the device, may be readily lifted from the ground and the machine stopped by tilting the handle down as shown in dotted lines in Fig. 1. The propelling motor is shown at 5 and is arranged to drive the cutter 2 through gears 6 and 7, sprocket wheels 8 and 9, and chain 10. The shaft 11V of the cutter carriespinions 12 at each end which mesh with the gears 13 on the Wheels or rollers 1. The pinions 12 are loose on the shaft 11', being driven by the cutter through ratchets `14. Hence it will be seen that in my invention the cutter drives the wheels instead of being driven as in the ordinary hand machines.

The ratchets allow the machine to turn corners and to be manually propelled as when taking it to the place where it is to be used.y The reel 15 is of the horizontal type and comprises the drum 16 journaled on spindle 17. The latter is iXed at its upper end to the housing 20 and itslower end asses through and turns freely in the stan ard 18 mounted on the lower end of the mower handle. The spring 19 is secured at one end to the housin 20 and at its other end to the drum 16 an should be of sufficient length and strengthv to reel up from 50 to 100 feet of light `rubber covered twin cord or cable and to hold it above the ground when the machine is in use. The two conductors forming the cable terminate in contacts 21 which contact with slip rings 22. From the latter rings the current passes through contacts 23, slip rings 24 to conductors 25. The latter take the current to the motor, a switch 26 mounted on the handle being inserted in one of the leads in order that the operator may readily turn the power on and off. The switch 26 is mounted on the hand piece 40 at the outer end'of the handle bar 40a so that the operator can readily turn ofi` the current without removing his hand from the ma.-

.is raised as shown 4in dotted lines.

through gears 27 to the rear roller 4 and the machine is propelled by thisroller. In order to quickly stop the machine or to be able to freely turn or manipulate it the handle This lifts the roller 4 from the ground and leaves A' the machine free to be manipulated on the front rollers 1. The reel 29 in this machine is shown with the drum mounted to turn on a vertical axis, but this arrangement is optional and unimportant.

ln both modifications illustrated some means should be provided to turn off the current and stop the motor as the machine reachesl the limit of the travel and the cable has substantially all been unwound, in order to prevent damage to the cable or reel. My preferred means for doing this are shown in F ig. 8, where 3l is the core of the reel, 32 is a metal plate insulated from the ree-l b-y insulation 33, and 34 is one of the conductors of the cable secured to the reel at 35. rlhe conductor is broken and lugs 36 are secured to the ends. rlhese lugs are connected by insulating cord 37. With this arrangement, when the lugs rest on plate 32, the cable circuitis closed, but when the cable reels out and approaches its end so that the lugs are raised as shown in dot-ted lines, the cur,- rent is turned oli and the machine stopped. lt will be noted that the reel, in both arrangements illustrated, is mounted at yor near t-he lower end of the handle bar and is swivelled to swing freely. lt is important that the reel be mounted low because the pull on the cable is sulicient to make the ,handling of the machine troublesome if the reel is elevated so as to get it above the head l prefer to mount it directly above the machine, as shown in Fig. 7.

Having thus described my invention, what I elaim'is:

1. A lawn mower comprising a frame, a propelling wheel, a handle extending rear wardly therefrom whereby the operator may steer the machine, an electric motor connected with and adapted to propel the mower, means for supplying current to said motor comprising a seltI winding reel mounted on the mower and a cable comprising two conductors wound on said reel with its free end extending to a source of current supply.

2. A lawn mower comprising a frame, wheels supporting said frame, an electric driving motor, a handle bar secured at one end to the frame and provided with a hand piece at its outer end, a self retracting reel mounted on the mower adjacent to the lower Vend of the handle,l a supply cable carried on the reel and controlling means adapted to start and stop the mower mounted at the hand piece. l

3. A lawn mower, an elect-ric motor connected with and adapted to propel the mower, means for supplying current to said motor comprising a self-winding reel mounted on the mower and a cable comprising two insulated conductors wound on said reel with its free end extending to a source of current supply and means for breaking the current supply to the propelling motor before the cable has entirely unwound fromthe reel. l

4. A lawn mower comprising an electric motor connected with and adapted to propel the mower, means for supplying current to said motor comprising a reel mounted on the mower, a cable wound on said reel with its free end extending to the source of current supply, a hand piece for steering the mower, and controlling means adapted to start and stop the mower mounted on the hand piece.

5. A lawn mower, an electric motor connected with and adapted to propel the driving motor, a handle bar secured at one end to the frame and provided with a hand piece at its outer end, a self-retracting reel mounted on the'mower adjacent the lower end of the handle and swivelled to turn freely in a horizontal direction, and a supply cable carried on said reel.

JOHN' lV. PETERS. 

